In Chapter 8, Friedman shows how the lives of 241 U.S. Marines were sacrificed needlessly in Lebanon in 1983. Because the U.S. policy makers and military tacticians had no real understanding of the environment of the Middle East as a whole and in particular did not have a deeper understanding on the political scene of Lebanon, they over-estimated the force and persuasive power of American diplomacy capabilities, and underestimated the heated tensions between the different peoples of the region. The United States, for all of its alleged proficiency in language education, did not really speak the language of the Middle East; of 'my enemy's enemy' is my friend, a land where winks speak volumes. "The Lebanese, like all Middle Easterners, are a people with a vivid imagination," remarked Fouad Ajami, a friend of the author. "That is why a great power should never wink at anyone in the Middle East. Small winks speak big...
You wink at Ariel Sharon and he goes all the way to Beirut...They like you big, but the want to send you back small; they like you a virgin but they want to sent you back a whore." (109)
Friedman thus provides a powerful answer to all of the important questions he asks at the beginning sections of the book. He shows how and why Beirut came to be such a cosmopolitan city in the middle of a desert of fundamentalism, and how it became a stewing, warring battleground for the various factions and nations that continue to tear apart the fabric of the Middle East. And above all, he tells a wonderful story with a compelling and real cast of characters, a book that is a tragedy and a comedy all at once, that is likeable and interesting as well as informative to read.
Works Cited
Friedman, Thomas. From Beirut to Jerusalem. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1989.
